This invention relates generally to refrigerators, and more particularly, to control systems for refrigerator compartments.
Some known refrigerators include a fresh food compartment and a freezer compartment. Such a refrigerator also typically includes a refrigeration sealed system circuit including a compressor, an evaporator, and a condenser connected in series. An evaporator fan is provided to blow air over the evaporator, and a condenser fan is provided to blow air over the condenser. In operation, when an upper temperature limit is reached in the freezer compartment, the compressor, evaporator fan, and condenser fan are energized. Once the temperature in the freezer compartment reaches a lower temperature limit, the compressor, evaporator fan, and condenser fan are de-energized.
A typical refrigeration apparatus, such as a refrigerator/freezer, includes one or more refrigerated compartments. A plurality of storage systems, such as shelves and/or pans, are mounted within the compartments for storing items to be refrigerated. The storage systems can be stationary or selectively positionable within the compartments. Commonly, shelves are cantilevered from tracks mounted at the rear of the compartment so that they can be moved between a fixed number of predetermined vertical positions along the tracks.
The spacing above each shelf must be sufficient to allow items of various sizes to be placed thereon without interference. Occasionally, therefore, the shelves are repositioned to a different height. When the shelves are cantilevered from the tracks, however, all of the items must be removed from the shelf before the shelf can be removed from the track and repositioned to a new position. Additionally, the shelves can only be located at a fixed number predetermined positions. The predetermined positions of the shelves, therefore, may not allow optimal usage of the storage space within the compartment.